Mad scientists, supervillains and sociopaths on the road to insanity at Salt lake Comic Con 2014

One of the last panels for Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 explored Mad Scientists, Supervillains and Sociopaths: the Road to Insanity. With Aaron Lee Yeager, Angela Hartley, Sarah E. Seeley, Craig Nybo, Matthew Kirby and Michaelbrent Collings, attendees were able to explore the fascination behind villains and main characters who may lack empathy. “Being a writer means that you are really close to being insane,” says Yeager. Insane people are surprisingly fulfilled by what they are doing, even when what they are doing is horrific. “Villains are the most interesting characters in literature,” says Hartley. Nybo pointed out that everyone has a weird desire to do something terrible like push a friend down the stairs or kick the crutch out from under someone. One in 100 people is a sociopath. “It is among us. It is with us. It is so familiar,” says Nybo. “We’re all constantly engaged in storytelling,” says Kirby. “What we’ve done is drawn cartoons of sociopaths,” says Collings. We have this dumbed down version of lunacy presented to us in the media. When developing a sociopathic character, it is important to understand what they are. “Make sure that they are motivated by something real,” says Nybo. “You have to remove every empathetic feeling for any living thing,” says Kirby.